MelvinBragg

Regards left/right sided defenders, looking at the left side of the defence makes sense if you feel that it's unlikely that McManus and Hammell will be available all season. Flipside to that is that the defender we are most likely to lose this summer is our right sided centre back. I would hope that we have a target in mind should Heneghan leave and that that target may require Heneghan leaving to free up funds. Again, and I was slated for this opinion before, this is what concerns me about our approach to strengthening our defence. Important area of the team to be relying on trialists to fill gaps. The same approach to our midfield led to us signing Clay and Lucas last summer...

Given the game that they gave Rangers in the cup last season, I suspect the Morton game will not be one for experimenting...

I think we'd all like to have a 'proper' left back at left back but reality is that on our budget we need to have players that are versatile and carrying two 'proper' left backs would eat into the budget. As regards his quality or lack thereof, as with every signing there's a bit of trusting the manager's judgement. In this particular case, the player has played for Robinson before so there's no question of the scout being responsible. Robinson knowing this, you have to figure he's pretty sure that Dunne will be able to do a job. Robinson was quick to sideline Chalmers, Jules, Blyth and Lucas when he felt they couldn't cut it and most fans agreed with him there so we should trust his judgment on Dunne until proved otherwise...

15th or 16th August according to the club website...

Is it not Tom Boyd? I'm only guessing, mind you. Like you, I don't know...

I think the mention of five further signings was made prior to the signing of Rose and Griffiths. I think we'd like to sign another five but it will depend on moving others on...

Kind of hoping it's the Friday night or I won't be able to make it. Not sure of the Europa league qualifying dates but that might push it to the Sunday...

The trialists are of a pedigree that I would expect. Going by previous comments, if he is fit, Dunne would be the one that we're most likely to sign. The other two defenders will probably have come on recommendation. The striker, while not prolific, if you look at his stats has scored 11 in 36 career starts. Not dreadful although he has had a good number of sub appearances. Time will tell, I guess...

Quite...

Good decision...

That would be the one...

Heard a rumour this morning that ourselves and Dundee are after Stephen Hendrie, been released by West Ham..

So can we now ask the question, who's going to be captain next season? Smart money would be on Hammell or McManus but will they play enough games to make it a sensible decision?

There are examples where trialists have worked out very well for us. I'm not saying using that method of identifying players doesn't have its place. My concern (and it's only a concern, I'm not demanding resignations or anything like that over it) is that we released two defenders at the end of the season (three if you count Jules loan spell ending). We ended the season with midfielders at centre back and right back. I would imagine that due to this we would have had a list of targets for that area. I would imagine that we would only be looking at trialists before signing a single defender if we were unable to secure any of the targets on our list. That concerns me. As it is, I'm kind of hoping that a better keeper and a better midfield will take some of the strain off our defence...

I think we all agree that the defence needs work but you have to remember we have signed a new goalkeeper and several midfielders. You would hope that these signings would help the defensive side of things before you even get new defenders Having said that, my concern is (and I've already said this) that we're looking at trialists in this area. Smacks very much of last season's approach to centre midfield when we ended up with Clay and Lucas who were not seen as massive success stories. It may be that like the rumoured left back, Dunne, these are players that Robinson is already aware of and just wants to check their fitness or how they fit in with the rest of the squad but my concern with trialists is always that you're at the point of last resort and end up getting a body in just to make up the numbers who won't really contribute...

Apparently we have three defenders training with us so we can have a closer look at them...

Good luck to the guy. Never got a chance but had a decent record for the U20s. I'm assuming that the Premiership club in question was Accies...

Given Robinson's approach to players that can't match the standards of fitness he's looking for, I'd be surprised if we signed any players carrying too much weight. A centre back built like a brick outhouse wouldn't surprise me though...

Kind of hoped we'd be avoiding the trialist market as much as possible this year. Just feel as if that lends itself to signing guys simply because they're available (Lucas and Clay being the most recent examples). And I know we have had success in the past with the likes of McDonald and Ojaama but we have a better record when it's actually players we have targeted...

Someone needs to show the last couple of pages of this thread to Steve Robinson to show exactly how important it is to Motherwell fans' mental health that we make another new signing soon...

On the subject of Scougall, part of me hopes we don't sign him. Some seem to be building him up to be the solution to all of our attacking problems and I fear he'll not live up to expectations. We all know how tolerant the East Stand can be... On the defence, pretty sure Robinson knows it needs work. But he has addressed it to an extent by acquiring a goalkeeper who he thinks will strengthen it as a unit. And some who are concerned about it (I'm looking at you, Dave) have been saying for seasons it's been exposed by a weak midfield. Given we've signed Bigirmana (who Robinson thinks will help us control the game better) and Rose who brings athleticism and physique, perhaps it won't be quite as exposed as before. I know we need defenders but we should be looking at how the team defends as a unit...

While Stevie Hammell has his flaws and has missed games in the last few seasons, I think the number of times we've tried to replace him or sign cover for him and they haven't been able to match up to him tells me that he's not as bad as some on here make out. Either that or our scouts have a real problem identifying left backs. I mention this simply to point out that finding a suitable replacement for him might not be as easy as people think. Could argue it's the toughest position we have to fill this summer. Replacing a guy who's held that position for 13 of the last 15 years won't be easy. Whoever we get will be under real scrutiny...

Am I really old? Is it only me who read this and thought automatically of Elvis and Johnny Cash?

The accusation of being too close to the players is one that was always going to be thrown at him if he becomes assistant. Thing is with such a high turnover of players, there's only really McManus and Hammell left of the perceived old boys network. Too close to the likes of Cadden and others coming from the U20s? I reckon it's a good thing that the young players will feel able to go to him...

Tend to agree although the English market is sceptical of Scottish players and pays a premium for English players...